Española School District officials held a breakfast meeting the morning of Dec. 16 with state representatives to outline the projects for which they need Capital Outlay funding. The District’s requests—totaling nearly $1 million—focused primarily on student safety and musical equipment.
While several representatives and senators were invited, only Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, and Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, attended the breakfast.
Last legislative session, the District received funding to start a band program at Española Valley High School and Española Middle School. Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez and members of the Española School Board said they hope to continue to grow the program.
“Back in the day, Española had these things and somehow it dwindled away,” Gutierrez said.
One request is $150,000 for stringed instruments to create a mariachi and orchestra program. The District is also asking for $125,000 for marching band uniforms for both the Middle and High School.
Board Members Ruben Archuleta and Gilbert Serrano, the only members to attend the breakfast, said musical programs provide additional outlets for students besides sports and can serve as an emotional support.
“It’s amazing how they’ve improved,” Archuleta said of the band programs. Already, two High School students were selected to be a part of the state honor band, Gutierrez said.
The District also requested funding for HALO Vape and Security Detectors as a method of tackling the surge in teenage use of vaping products in Rio Arriba County.
Gutierrez said multiple students have been hospitalized this school year for vaping, including one student that had to be sent to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
“We thought we were going to lose him,” she said.
The detectors would be placed in bathrooms at the Middle and High School, where the vaping problems are more pronounced. While they do not have cameras on them, they detect vapors and send a signal to a designated employee that a student is vaping in the bathroom.
A camera located outside the bathroom then takes a photograph of whomever walks out after the sensor is triggered. The District will request $56,000 for the equipment, which has been implemented in schools across the United States.
The District received funding last session for keyless entry and other security systems, like Raptor Technology identification check systems. Once again, more money will be requested for security features, primarily a radio communications system between all of the schools.
In total, requests for security equipment amount to $200,817, which would also include utility vehicles and $131,120 to address any future security needs in the District.
Another large request for the District are roofing repairs at some of the older school sites. The state awarded $150,000 last year, but Gutierrez said more funding is required to fix all of the roofs in the District, around $200,000.
Each state lawmaker receives an allotted amount of Capital Outlay funding to appropriate to different sources. Romero and Herrera said they still do not know how much they will receive for the next legislative session.
Herrera said school officials should not be too optimistic, since the state relies so heavily on the volatile gas and oil market, whose prices can rise and decline unexpectedly at any time. In the past six months, the price for crude oil has seen a variance in prices of $10 per barrel.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as high this year,” she said. “I think they’re tending to put more into reserves, because gas and oil are more volatile.”
She also said many entities asked her for funding this year. Last year, she received $10 million in requests while only having $2 million in appropriations.
“District 41 is the size of Connecticut,” Herrera said. “I have three school districts. I have a lot of small communities. I have the most acequias.”
Romero suggested school officials ask as many legislators they can for help, especially by making trips to the Roundhouse during the session.
“Talk to everyone about any commitment they might be able to make,” she said.
Herrera said the amount of funding is also questionable, since the state is expected to increase funding for education in an effort to comply with the Yazzie/Martinez court ruling, which found educational funding must be increased to meet the needs of at-risk students.
“The good news is we got $450 million more in the state budget,” she said. “The bad news is it’s still not enough.”
McCurdy Charter School Director Sarah Tario also attended the meeting to outline the School’s request.
The primary request is $75,000 for new playground equipment, but the School would also like funding for new football field bleachers and the same vape detector equipment.
“We face some significant challenges, and one of those for us is just having the things kids need to be happy at school,” Tario said. “There are other needs that we have, but those are top of the list.”
Not in attendance was Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Ojo Caliente, who had been scheduled to appear but had to cancel to appear in court on charges of aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving, on which he was later found guilty. Rep. Joseph Sanchez could also not attend due to a “work-related matter,” Gutierrez said.